Can not start node app unless changing directory

Question

I am trying to create a cron job which starts my node app every hour, the command that starts is:

node /home/pi/Desktop/DiscordBots/panda-bot/index.js

however this returns:

fs.js:646
  return binding.open(pathModule._makeLong(path), stringToFlags(flags), mode);
                 ^

Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'warnings.json'

It does start if I cd to the directory first /home/pi/Desktop/DiscordBots/panda-bot and then node index.js

This would mean I have to create a shell script that cds and then starts node but I prefer to do start it in one line, is this possible?

Answer 1

Cron runs your commands in your home directory. If you want a oneliner command in your crontab then you would have to use &&

In your crontab 0 * * * * cd /home/pi/Desktop/DiscordBots/panda-bot && node index.js

Please refer to :https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/38951/what-is-the-working-directory-when-cron-executes-a-job